


what do you think of my treehouse (it’s where I sit and talk really loud)

by Girl_With_No_Aesthetic_04



Series: is it worse to live with a reminder of what you've lost [1]
Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: (it is proofread though), F/F, F/M, I tried to squeeze him in, I was going for sad, I'm really sorry Mo isn't here guys, Morris Haynes-Clarke, No beta I die like a fool, Past Relationship(s), Pregnancy, Reminiscing, Talking To Dead People, and 2020, and Taylor Swift, but i failed, is it sad?, mentions of supernatural, my odd brainchild, tagging still makes me nervous, title from a song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girl_With_No_Aesthetic_04/pseuds/Girl_With_No_Aesthetic_04
Summary: Three years into her marriage, Zoey reaches out to an ex. And she talks about life to what she thought would be a defunct number.
Relationships: (mentioned) David Clarke/Emily Kang, (mentioned) Max Richman/Original Female Character(s), (mentioned) Tobin Batra/Leif Donnelly, (past) Zoey Clarke/Original Female Character(s), Simon Haynes & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Simon Haynes
Series: is it worse to live with a reminder of what you've lost [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122731
Kudos: 9





	what do you think of my treehouse (it’s where I sit and talk really loud)

**Author's Note:**

> First work of the New Year!! (also the first time I've posted in a few months... oops)
> 
> This is what happens when I watch Bridgerton and The Good Place back to back and have Alex G's Treehouse on repeat. 
> 
> Please excuse any grammar and/or spelling errors. Despite being proofread, it's still mostly unedited.
> 
> (I am not affiliated with Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist in any way.)

San Francisco is cold in the winter.

Obviously, not as cold as other places in the US. It doesn’t snow almost ever, and even when it does, it’s just a few snowflakes. The last time of recorded snowfall was at Twin Peaks in 2019. Before that, it had been 43 years since the snow fell. Rain isn’t necessarily uncommon, but it’s usually pretty tame. Still, it was cold. Colder than most of the Bay Area due to the city’s position being right next to the bay.

So, Zoey didn’t really understand why her son loved the treehouse so much in winter. Any other season, she could understand. In spring, the tree next to the oak grew tiny white flowers that Morris adored and flowers loved to flutter in with the wind. In summer there was no school, it was warm, and he could run around and make-up adventures to complete. Sometimes, if he was lucky, she and Simon would join in on his games. And in fall, the leaves turned orange, red, and yellow and he could step on fallen ones to see if they’d crunch.

So, she could absolutely understand any other season. But Morris loved the treehouse in winter. When she asked why he shrugged and said “dunno”. Part of her speculated he associated winter with Christmas, but another part told her her son was three, and she probably wouldn’t understand his reasoning behind it, if there even was reasoning there.

Still, a part of her wanted to understand his love around it.

\------------------------

It was two days before New Years’ and Zoey could not explain how tired she was. And not tired in the didn’t-get-enough-sleep tired or the really-want-to-go-to-sleep tired. Just… tired. 

It was absolutely due to Christmas. Morris had been spoiled rotten by his grandparents. On both sides of the family. He as a consequence was jumpier and up earlier to have a chance to play with all his new presents for the last few days.

Christmas exhausted her.

But she was also incredibly sad. The  _ incident _ was seven years ago.

She was sad and exhausted and that was made ten times worse by hormones because she was five months pregnant.

Still, she was determined to do something that day, no matter how sad she was.

Getting up wasn’t too hard (yet) and she began wandering around the house, no specific destination in mind.

She found herself in the backyard gazing at the treehouse. Simon had built it almost a year ago, with some help from herself and Max. It was pretty sturdy, situated in an oak tree that Max had determined was probably a native, but couldn’t figure out which type it was. It couldn’t hold two adults and a child, but it could hold a kid or four, and that was really the only thing they cared about.

She approached, smiling at the Do Not Enter signs at the foot of the ladder Morris had dictated her to write.

“Sorry, buddy, but I think I’m gonna break the rules.” She said to herself, climbing up the small ladder into the small room her son loved.

Crawling into the small room and not hitting her head on the ceiling was an accomplishment she suddenly became very proud of at that moment. She never really noticed how much work she put into it before.

Sitting in the middle of the room, Zoey couldn’t help but notice the air was cold. That shouldn’t have been surprising and it wasn’t, but at the same time, it was a bit of a shock.

Releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding, she looked around at her surroundings. 

There was the large plastic kitchen set Morris didn’t really play with. She could’ve reached out and touched it, but there was a thin layer of dust coating it. There was the small, fake wood table and two folding chairs that had throw blankets draped over them. They didn’t have the coating of dust the kitchen set had as Morris often ate lunch in the treehouse, but she was a bit weary it still probably wasn’t clean in the slightest. He was three after all, he was going to be messy.

Taking out her phone, she scrolled through her contacts. She stopped at Max.

Should she call him?

He’d understand if she did. Max may not be sad like she was today, but he’d still be sympathetic.

After a moment of contemplation, she scrolled. She didn’t want to be a burden.

She also thought about calling her therapist. She’d no doubt be understanding and willing to listen. But Zoey scrolled past her too. She needed to talk to the source quite frankly.

She searched for the name and number on her phone, but neither appeared to be saved. So, she went to the call button and dialed the number for Daphne Alexander.

She was expecting the voicemail message to an extent. In fact, it would’ve been worrying if she did answer. But the message that greeted her was unexpected.

“Hey, you’ve reached the phone of Daphne Alexander!” The melodic voice said. “I’m not available at the moment for either work reasons orーZoey no!”

“Sorry, Daph!” Zoey’s own voice rang out rendering herself silent. She inhaled and exhaled shakily.

“... Or, I’m taking care of my clumsy girlfriend! Please call back later or leave a message after the beep.” Daphne laughed.

“Beep!” Past Zoey yelled.

Then the robot beep. And Zoey completely lost everything she was going to say.

_ Inhale, Zoey, inhale. _

“Hi, Daph.” Zoey got out. “I - um… funny, I completely forgot what I was going to say after that voicemail message. I thought it would’ve changed. Or that this number wouldn’t be yours anymore. Like… I don’t know actually. Like, maybe Dean threw out your phone. Or maybe Dean scrubbed it of your personal information and everything. I don’t know why I thought that. It was… just a possibility.”

_ In and out, in and out _ .

“How long has it been since I talked to you? Six years at least, right?”

_ No response. _

“So, I, uh, guess I gotta catch you up, huh? Okay, um, big news first.”

_ No, wait, actually, smaller first. _

“Okay, actually small first. Um, you like  _ Supernatural _ right? I can’t really remember. Uh, anyway it ended a few years ago. It… wasn’t very good from what I heard. Taylor Swift is still really popular. Guess the Swiftie in our relationship won that one.” She huffed something that was supposed to be a laugh. “Holy crap! There was a pandemic a few years ago. That sucked. But uh…” She thought for a moment. “... that’s all I can think of in small news. Uh… time for the big news I guess.”

_ Silence on the other end. _

“Well, I got married! And no, I know what you’re gonna say, it’s not Max. His name is Simon and he’s the marketing manager at SPRQ Point. And, yes, I still work there. I can already feel your disappointment, but… it’s a better work environment now than it was when we were together. Especially, since I was promoted to engineering manager. Ah!”

Zoey paused, waiting for Daphne to squeal, but she never did. 

_ Right _ , she didn’t pick up.

“So, uh,” She continued, “Uh, let’s see, I got married, I have a son now. His name is Morris. I’m pregnant with my next one. Biologically, she’s a girl. Simon likes the name Abigail, but I’m thinking Joanne. Like Joan.”

Zoey could practically hear the “Jesus Christ, Zo” from her ex-girlfriend.

“I swear, Joan’s much better now than she was then!” She exclaimed in her own defense. “Besides, she can be nicknamed Jo or something along those lines, and if she figures out she doesn’t fit into the category of binary female, she’ll have a go-to gender-neutral name in Jo or Joey.”

She paused, before going into her friends’ lives. “So, you’d never guess who I’m good friends with now. Tobin Batra and Leif Donnelly. I know, I can’t really believe it happened either. But, uh… it happened. They are also dating now. Yes, I know, you called that one, I’m sorry for ever doubting you on that. Max also has a girlfriend now. Her name’s India. It’s kind of new, don’t want to jinx anything, but I think they’re really great together.”

Zoey closed her eyes and inhaled. She was going to have to talk about her dad soon.

“David and Emily had two kids. Two boys. Emily doesn’t want anymore, but I think David wants a girl. Either way, he agrees with her to her face at least.”

She sighed. Now was the time.

“Uh… Dad died. I’m sure you know that already. But if you didn’t, I thought you should know. I know you liked him a lot.” She hesitated for a moment.

_ Breathe, Zoey. _

“He loved you. He wanted us to get married. After he first met you, he called me asking when the wedding was.” She giggled, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. She bit her lip. “I think I wanted us to get married too. I think if we had even another month together we would’ve eloped or something.”

She took a deep breath.

_ I miss you _ went unsaid.

Daphne knew.

Zoey took another breath before laughing. “Oh! I forgot to tell you. The weirdest thing  _ ever _ happened to me a few years ago. I can hear people’s thoughts and emotions through song. It’s fucking wild.” Then she remembered Dean. “Dean if you’re listening to this, that was a joke.”

It wasn’t, and if Daphne was listening she’d know it wasn’t. But, Zoey didn’t want to end up being thought of as crazy by her ex’s brother.

She took another breath as she felt another tear. “Daph, if you see my dad, say hi for me. And please, have a conversation. Don’t let him bother the others… wherever he is.”

_ Inhale, exhale. _

“Bye Daph.”

She hung up, placing the phone on the floor of the treehouse, and put her hands on her face.

They were cold.

Suddenly, she realized it wasn’t too cold out anymore. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn’t cold.

She closed her eyes.

_ Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. _

It wasn’t quiet. Cars drove by the house, cars were honking a few blocks away, and the ten windchimes next door were going ham.

Still, it was oddly tranquil.

Opening her eyes, and taking a final deep breath, she placed her phone in her pocket and began to crawl out.

Once down the ladder, she ran to get inside. It may not have been cold anymore, but she  _ was. _

Finding her way to the couch, she sat down and took a deep breath.

_ Wow. _

She needed that if she was being honest. She needed to do that after six years. 

It felt…  _ really _ fucking good.

Daphne’s accident was seven years ago. She died on the way to the hospital. Her last words were “someone call my girlfriend and tell her I’m gonna need a new bike, please.”

Zoey didn’t get to see Daphne until the funeral. Dean wouldn’t let her, telling her it was a family affair and that because they’d only been dating three months, she didn’t count.

She called Daphne a lot in the beginning. She had wanted to hear her voice and update her on how she was doing. Until she stopped altogether. The pain became too much, and she just couldn’t keep doing it.

Still, she missed Daphne  _ so fucking much. _

She sometimes thought about what would’ve happened had Daph survived or that she’d never been hit at all. She was pretty confident in assuming they might still be together.

But, she also knew Daphne would be so happy for her now. And fact of the matter was, it wasn’t good to dwell on the what-ifs and the past. She had a great thing going now, and she absolutely loved every moment of it.

Zoey smiled.

She thinks she understands why winter was Morris’s favorite season. At least to an extent.

Winter was a great time for reflection.

Her husband would say winter was a better time for moral quandaries rather than reflection.

Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

She was going to watch an episode of  _ The Good Place _ . 

Moral quandaries were always better with Ted Danson.

**Author's Note:**

> Treehouse by Alex G  
> https://youtu.be/n7KWx9LAuuQ
> 
> (This can be read as canon with Coffee and Cakes (But Not Coffee Cakes)).
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Happy New Year!!


End file.
